No fewer than 203,371 housing units have been damaged by flooding ravaging villages, towns, cities and farmlands across Nigeria in the last one month.
According to the Federal Government’s report, the disaster partially damaged 121,318 houses totally damaged 82,053 houses, partially damaged 108,392 hectares of farmlands and totally damaged 332,327 hectares of farmlands, all across Nigeria.
The natural disaster also claimed 603 lives, affected 2,504,095 persons and displaced 1,302,589 persons across the country.
By this damaged houses’ figures, the nation’s housing deficit of over 20 million units, according to the estimates by the United Nations (UN), has further been widened by 203, 371 units, thereby aggravating issue of homelessness among Nigerians.
The number of dwelling units reported to have been damaged by the deluge is not part of the housing units demolished by various government’s agencies during the year for one infraction or the other.
From Kogi State to Anambra, Delta, Cross River, Rivers and Bayelsa states, the impacts of the ravaging flood are enormous as people struggle to move out of their homes to safe locations.
However, as Nigerians continue to lament the impacts of flooding across the country, looking for succor, the Federal Government has warned that the country was not yet out of the wood, disclosing that five states are still at risk of experiencing flooding up to November, this year.
Worried by the destructions, experts in the built environment have expressed concerns over the increasing housing deficit in the country, suggesting ways to combat the perennial flooding, which they claimed was occasioned by the opening of Cameroon’s Dam and climate change/ global warming.
Speaking about the deluge, one of the affordable housing’s advocates in Nigeria, Mr Kunle Faleti, described flooding as the “number one natural disaster” in most of the states in Nigeria.
“Flooding is a real problem for those individuals living in flood plains and flood damage could be very devastating. Last year, flood devastated a wide area of Lagos (Etiosa/Lekki/Ibeju/Ikorodu/Badagry) and caused approximately N10 billion in damages,” he said.
According to him, he pointed out that flooding issues were being addressed by constructing sea walls, levees and dams (Ogun/Osun River and Majidun).
Despite these efforts, he said they remained temporary measures and would not prevent the force of nature at its worst.
Source: Tribune
